PATRIOTS: Not there yet, but defense made strides

The Patriots turned in their best defensive performance of the season in Thursday's night's 19-14 win at Tampa Bay.

Glen Farley The Enterprise @GFarley_ent

The Patriots’ defense remains a work in progress, but progress was made in their work on Thursday night.

All of the numbers may not have reflected that at game’s end – the Buccaneers finished with 409 yards in total offense and quarterback Jameis Winston threw for 334 – but the one that mattered most did.

After allowing 33 points or more in three of their first four games, the Patriots held an opponent under 20 for the first time all season in their 19-14 win at Tampa Bay.

Unlike previous weeks – just four days before in a 33-30 loss to Carolina at home, for instance – the Patriots’ defense didn’t look like a bunch of guys that head coach Bill Belichick and defensive coordinator Matt Patricia had pulled out of a pregame tailgate in the parking lot five minutes ’til kickoff and put out on the playing field.

Granted, it had some help along the way – most notably, Winston’s erratic right arm (26 for 46; he missed a number of wide-open receivers) and place-kicker Nick Folk’s aimless right foot (he missed all three of his field-goal attempts) – but the Patriots’ defense limited the Buccaneers to only one touchdown until tight end Cameron Brate’s 18-yard TD reception pulled them to within 16-14 with 2:09 to go.

“We’re trying to improve every week,” Patricia said on Friday. “I would say this week, in a short week, there were some really good things that came through and some situational things that were good. There’s certainly a lot to keep pushing to keep improving on and that’s really the main focus that we’ve got to handle.”

Six of the Buccaneers’ first eight possessions ended in punts by Bryan Anger (so much for Anger management in Tampa Bay) before their final four concluded with scoring opportunities – two missed field goals by Folk, Brate’s TD and a potential game-winning pass for tight end O.J. Howard in the end zone that cornerback Jonathan Jones batted away.

“We’ve certainly got a lot to improve on,” said Patricia. “There’s all areas from (Thursday) night that we’ve got to get cleaned up. We’ll start that today.”

Part of the defense’s strategy involved matching cornerbacks Stephon Gilmore and Malcolm Butler up on Buccaneers wide receivers Mike Evans and Desean Jackson, respectively, an approach the beleaguered Gilmore believes played to his strength.

“I think that’s what gets the best out of me, when I’m following a guy and studying a certain guy,” Gilmore told reporters in the locker room after the win.

On Friday, Belichick went out of his way to credit linebacker Dont’a Hightower and safety Devin McCourty, both team captains, for bringing out the best in defense with the leadership skills they displayed in a short week.

“I really thought this week that ‘High’ and McCourty really gave us some great leadership defensively in our preparation and kind of having the right attitude to go down, play in the game and all we needed to do and it was a short week and I think they really stepped up from a leadership standpoint in that group and just did a great job for us,” the head coach said. “It’s always good to see and I just want to recognize it because I think that sometimes you see a play down on the field and obviously they’re very, very important, but there are a lot of things that go into how it all comes together and I thought those two players defensively did a real good for us this week.”

Glen Farley may be reached at gfarley@enterprisenews.com. Follow him on Twitter at @GFarley_ent.